Verizon says house shoppers crave high-fiber Internet diet

New research from fiber backers finds that high-speed Internet access is now …

Verizon's fiber to the home system is wicked fast and fires lasers through tiny glass tubes—undeniably cool stuff. But Verizon claims far more than the mantle of "cool;" the company says that its FiOS system is now the "leading real estate development amenity."

"Home shoppers use to scan the prospect for a Jacuzzi or an intercom," says Verizon vice president of corporate marketing Bill Heilig. "Now, not so much. They look for the Verizon Optical Network Terminal and the Verizon broadband home router so they know they'll have the best Internet and TV service over the best home network available today."

Heilig is referring to results from a new survey commissioned by the Fiber to the Home Council showing high levels of customer satisfaction with fiber, along with top Internet speeds. While high-speed networking has certainly become a desirable amenity, there's a bit less to Verizon's claim here than meets the eye.

For one thing, despite the talk of "home shoppers," this is really about a specific kind of home shopper: the sort of person who wants to buy a home in a "development." And, when one examines the actual questions asked in the survey (PDF), it becomes clear that options were limited. Fiber to the home did score highest on the list of possible amenities, but the only other options were green space/walking trails, a 24-hour neighborhood patrol, a community pool, or a fitness center/clubhouse area.

In a separate, broader question about new housing developments, respondents put high-speed Internet service second when presented with 23 options. It was beaten only by "landscaping and setting" of the home.

Despite the limitations, the survey contained interesting tidbits that illustrate just how pervasive broadband connectivity has become. Fourty-nine percent of existing fiber to the home users said that their Internet connection would be the "last thing" they would give up if the economy forced them to cut back.

Fiber to the home users were more satisfied with their broadband speed, the television service offered, and the uptime of their connections than were cable and DSL users — largely an indication of the quality of Verizon's finest product.

Although DOCSIS 3.0 means that cable companies can currently offer speeds that compete with fiber, many cable users have yet to gain access to the higher speeds. The survey asked users to test their Internet connections with Speakeasy's Speedtest tool. Results from that process showed that the median download speed for fiber users was 10.4Mbps—51 percent higher than cable modem users and 593 percent higher than DSL users.

The results are a reminder that when it comes to Internet speeds, DSL providers have basically thrown in the towel. AT&T does offer an 18Mbps option, but only on its U-verse IPTV product, which is not yet widely available. Regular DSL tops out at 6Mbps, while Verizon's own DSL tops out at 7Mbps.

If you want speed, cable or fiber are the only real options for most Americans. Sadly, of the two, only cable is widely deployed across the country, which means that if you like both high speeds and actual competition, you're probably out of luck.